There’s a major misnomer about sales. Sales is not something you “do to someone”. Sales is about helping someone make a decision to buy from you.
So here are 7 rules which govern every sales situation.
- No problem = no sale. They have a problem they want to solve and are willing to pay to do so.
- In every sale there is a gap – between where they are and where they want to be – some future state. And the gap has to be big enough for them to want to take action. Put another way, we all have problems we’re happy to live with and can’t be bothered fixing.
- All sales are about change. Your buyer has to change the status quo to get a different outcome. But…
- People don’t like change. Change is emotional. Change is hard. It takes effort. And the greater the effort the less likely it’ll be they’ll buy. So all sales are emotional!
- People will change when they want to solve the problem badly enough and are willing to pay the price in terms of not just money, but time, effort and ensuring no one loses out.
- Sales happen when the gap between the present and future is large enough and the pain of change is worth it.
- No one gives a damn about you! They only care about the value you can provide. Tough, I know.
All of which means your job is not sales, but becoming a buying facilitator. You help your prospects to make the decision to buy by delving into the issues, helping them discover the negative impact of not fixing the issue and the positive outcome they could achieve.
Then covering off all the impediments which will inevitably present themselves.
This takes skill, compassion and a great deal of curiosity with where your buyers are at.
All of which we delve into in depth with our clients to help them embody these skills, so they become adept at leading the “buying” process, ensuring everyone wins. The buyer gets a great outcome and you generate more revenue and profit.
